{"id":1114,"date":"2026-08-12T06:45:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T06:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/?p=1114"},"modified":"2026-08-12T06:45:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T06:45:22","slug":"lol-placement-matches-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/lol-placement-matches-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"LoL Placement Matches Strategy: Make Your 10 Games Count"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>LoL placement matches are 5 ranked games per queue, played at the start of every new season, that decide where you land in the new rank distribution. You can&#8217;t lose LP during them, you can&#8217;t drop tiers below your starting floor, and the ceiling on where you can place is Diamond III &#8211; regardless of whether you finished last season at Iron II or Challenger. The whole thing is over in about 3 hours of focused play if you don&#8217;t dodge anything.<\/p>\n<p>This post is the boost-team playbook for placements in the current season &#8211; which queue to do first, which champions to bring, when dodging is the right move, what 5-0 vs 3-2 vs 0-5 actually buys you, and how the new-player placement rules differ from the returning-player rules. Numbers are from what we run on placement boosts week to week.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_83 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/lol-placement-matches-strategy\/#How_placements_actually_work_in_the_current_season\" >How placements actually work in the current season<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/lol-placement-matches-strategy\/#Starting_rank_by_placement_W-L_mix\" >Starting rank by placement W-L mix<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/lol-placement-matches-strategy\/#What_to_bring_to_placements_and_what_to_leave_at_home\" >What to bring to placements (and what to leave at home)<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/lol-placement-matches-strategy\/#When_to_dodge_a_placement_lobby\" >When to dodge a placement lobby<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/lol-placement-matches-strategy\/#Queue_order_SoloDuo_first_Flex_second\" >Queue order: Solo\/Duo first, Flex second<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/lol-placement-matches-strategy\/#New_player_placement_vs_returning_player_placement\" >New player placement vs returning player placement<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/lol-placement-matches-strategy\/#Pre-placement_prep_checklist\" >Pre-placement prep checklist<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/lol-placement-matches-strategy\/#Frequently_asked_questions\" >Frequently asked questions<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/lol-placement-matches-strategy\/#How_many_placement_matches_does_League_of_Legends_have\" >How many placement matches does League of Legends have?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/lol-placement-matches-strategy\/#Can_you_lose_LP_during_placements\" >Can you lose LP during placements?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/lol-placement-matches-strategy\/#What_is_the_highest_rank_you_can_place_into\" >What is the highest rank you can place into?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/lol-placement-matches-strategy\/#Should_I_dodge_a_bad_placement_lobby\" >Should I dodge a bad placement lobby?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/lol-placement-matches-strategy\/#Should_I_play_placements_right_away_or_wait\" >Should I play placements right away or wait?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/lol-placement-matches-strategy\/#Can_I_duo_for_placements\" >Can I duo for placements?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_placements_actually_work_in_the_current_season\"><\/span>How placements actually work in the current season<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Placements are short, low-stakes, and worth getting right. The mechanics:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>5 games per queue. Solo\/Duo and Flex have separate placement runs. To &#8220;do all your placements&#8221; you need 10 total games (5 in each), but each queue is independent and you can ignore Flex if you don&#8217;t care about it.<\/li>\n<li>No LP loss during placements. You can lose a placement game and your visible LP doesn&#8217;t go below the starting line. The system tracks your win-loss balance to set your starting MMR and your starting rank.<\/li>\n<li>Placement ceiling is Diamond III. Even if you finished last season at Challenger and go 5-0 in placements, the maximum starting rank is Diamond III. Climbing to Master and above happens after the placement window via regular ranked games.<\/li>\n<li>Tier-of-origin floor. The soft reset can&#8217;t push you below your prior tier of origin. Iron stays Iron, Bronze stays at least Bronze IV.<\/li>\n<li>Returning player placement is MMR-anchored. The system uses your prior season&#8217;s MMR as the anchor and adjusts based on placement results. Returning players don&#8217;t get reset, they get re-anchored.<\/li>\n<li>New player placement is performance-weighted. First-time ranked players (level 30 + 20 owned champions required) get placed more by in-game performance than by win-loss alone. KDA, CS differential, and win contribution carry weight in the first 5 games for new accounts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The full picture of how the reset interacts with placements &#8211; what MMR carries over, what doesn&#8217;t, where you land per prior peak &#8211; lives in <a href=\"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/lol-soft-reset-explained\/\">the full soft-reset breakdown<\/a>. For a refresher on what each rank means before you place into one, <a href=\"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/lol-ranks-explained\/\">the full ladder reference<\/a> covers per-tier distribution.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"bm-video\">\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;\">\n    <iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/-HSCeyMjog4\" title=\"Mobalytics 5 quick tips to win your ranked placement games\"\n      style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;\"\n      loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen allow=\"encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share\"\n      referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\"><\/iframe>\n  <\/div><figcaption>Mobalytics&#8217; 5-tip placement-games briefing &#8211; solid pre-queue framing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Starting_rank_by_placement_W-L_mix\"><\/span>Starting rank by placement W-L mix<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The most important table in this post. The result of your 5 placement games maps to a landing rank in your tier-of-origin range. This is what we see across boost orders and matches Riot-published placement behavior.<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Placement result<\/th>\n<th>Landing relative to prior peak<\/th>\n<th>What it signals to the system<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>5-0<\/td>\n<td>~1-2 divisions below prior peak (ceiling: Diamond III)<\/td>\n<td>Under-ranked. MMR adjusts upward from prior MMR.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>4-1<\/td>\n<td>~2-3 divisions below prior peak<\/td>\n<td>Stronger than the soft reset assumed.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>3-2<\/td>\n<td>~3-4 divisions below prior peak (the textbook drop)<\/td>\n<td>Fair to prior MMR.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>2-3<\/td>\n<td>~4-5 divisions below prior peak<\/td>\n<td>Slightly weaker than expected.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>1-4<\/td>\n<td>~5-6 divisions below prior peak, floors at tier of origin<\/td>\n<td>Weaker than prior MMR or out of practice.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>0-5<\/td>\n<td>Tier-of-origin floor (Iron IV, Bronze IV, etc.)<\/td>\n<td>Floored &#8211; no further drop, lowest starting rank possible.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Three things to read off this table. First: 5-0 is genuinely worth the effort. The difference between 5-0 and 3-2 is usually 1-2 full divisions of starting rank, which is 100-200 LP of &#8220;free&#8221; position you&#8217;d otherwise have to grind back. Second: the floor never goes below your tier of origin, so 0-5 placements aren&#8217;t catastrophic, they just leave you at the floor. Third: the placement ceiling at Diamond III means the work for previously-Master+ players really starts <em>after<\/em> placements, not during them.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_to_bring_to_placements_and_what_to_leave_at_home\"><\/span>What to bring to placements (and what to leave at home)<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The placement run is not the time to learn a new champion or try a weird off-meta strategy. Treat it like a 5-game proving ground for the version of you you already are.<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Bring to placements<\/th>\n<th>Leave at home<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Your main role + secondary you can actually play<\/td>\n<td>&#8220;Fill&#8221; &#8211; autofill kills placement runs<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>1-2 champions with 50+ ranked games each<\/td>\n<td>The new champion you&#8217;ve been practicing in normals<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Solo or a duo at your MMR or higher<\/td>\n<td>Duo with a friend 2+ divisions below your prior peak<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Headphones + focus for 3-4 hours<\/td>\n<td>Tilted weekend session after losing 4 normals in a row<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Willingness to dodge a doomed champ select<\/td>\n<td>&#8220;I&#8217;ll just play it out&#8221; mindset for an autofill support game<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Patch-notes glance before queueing<\/td>\n<td>The build you used three patches ago<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>The biggest mistake we watch players make in placements: queueing fill. Autofill is a placement-killer because it lands you in roles you don&#8217;t main, which means lower win rate, which means lower placement landing. Queue primary + secondary in roles you&#8217;ve actually played at your current rank. The 3-5 minute wait is worth the rank you save.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"When_to_dodge_a_placement_lobby\"><\/span>When to dodge a placement lobby<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Dodging during placements is one of the most undervalued tools in the system. The cost: a 5-minute (first dodge) or 15-minute (second) queue cooldown. The benefit: skipping a likely loss that would tank your placement MMR. There is <strong>no LP penalty<\/strong> for dodging during your placement run because you&#8217;re not eating LP at all during those 5 games.<\/p>\n<p>Dodge in these cases:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Autofilled to a role you can&#8217;t carry. If you&#8217;re autofilled to support and you&#8217;re a Diamond top-laner, the placement game is starting in a hole. Take the cooldown.<\/li>\n<li>Champ select is going off the rails. Two AD carries, no front line, a Yuumi mid going against Yasuo. The game is lost in champ select 30% of the time at low-to-mid ranks; placements aren&#8217;t the games to gamble on the other 70%.<\/li>\n<li>Pre-game ping war or chat tilt. A toxic lobby that&#8217;s already spiraling in champ select rarely turns into a healthy game. Dodge, queue up, mute everyone at game start in the next one.<\/li>\n<li>You autofilled in champ select. The first dodge cooldown is short. Eat it and queue back in your real role.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Don&#8217;t dodge in these cases:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You don&#8217;t love the matchup. A bad lane is not a doomed game. Most placement lobbies have at least 60% win equity even if your specific matchup is uncomfortable.<\/li>\n<li>You&#8217;re tilted from the last game. Dodging because you&#8217;re tilted just resets the same problem one game later. Stop placements for the day instead. The system doesn&#8217;t care if you take a day off mid-placement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/summonerschool\/comments\/127g8jh\/placement_matches_tips\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">r\/summonerschool placement-tips thread<\/a> has the community version of this same logic &#8211; dodging is rare advice that almost everyone agrees on once they understand the no-LP-penalty rule for placements.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Queue_order_SoloDuo_first_Flex_second\"><\/span>Queue order: Solo\/Duo first, Flex second<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Each queue has its own placement run. The question is which one to play first.<\/p>\n<p>The answer for almost everyone is Solo\/Duo first. Reasons:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Solo\/Duo MMR carries more weight. If you have a clear Solo\/Duo MMR from last season, the system will use it as the anchor for your Flex placements as well. Get the Solo\/Duo placement done first and your Flex run starts in a more accurate MMR bracket.<\/li>\n<li>Solo\/Duo decides season rewards. Victorious skins, end-of-season borders, Ranked Armor &#8211; all tied to Solo\/Duo. Flex placements are mostly for completionism unless you&#8217;re a Flex-stack main.<\/li>\n<li>Solo\/Duo lobbies are softer in week 1. Most of the strong grinders queue Solo\/Duo placements in the first week. The early queue has more under-placed players, which means easier games while the population sorts itself.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The single exception: if you queue Flex with a stack at a much higher MMR than your Solo\/Duo, Flex first can sometimes pre-load a strong MMR anchor. Niche case. For most players: Solo\/Duo first, Flex if you care.<\/p>\n<p>For the bigger picture of what to do once placements are done &#8211; which champion pool to grind out, when to push for tier-up promotions, how to ride the post-reset bonus LP window &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/fastest-way-to-climb-after-lol-reset\/\">the post-placement climb playbook<\/a> is the companion piece.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;d rather skip the 3-hour run and start the season at the placement ceiling, our <a href=\"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/en\/league-of-legends-boost\">League of Legends placement boost<\/a> team runs 5-0 placement services as a fixed-outcome job. Same account, same MMR profile, the team handles 5 games and you wake up at Diamond III (or your tier-of-origin floor +1 division, whichever the ceiling allows). Nothing flagged, nothing reused.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"New_player_placement_vs_returning_player_placement\"><\/span>New player placement vs returning player placement<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The system treats brand-new ranked accounts differently from accounts that played last season. A returning player is anchored on prior-season MMR; a new player starts from a performance-weighted assessment of the first 5 games.<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Aspect<\/th>\n<th>New ranked player<\/th>\n<th>Returning player<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Unlock requirement<\/td>\n<td>Level 30 + 20 owned champions<\/td>\n<td>Already ranked-eligible<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Starting MMR anchor<\/td>\n<td>Derived from normal-game performance<\/td>\n<td>Last season&#8217;s MMR (partial-reset adjusted)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Win-loss weight in placement<\/td>\n<td>Lower &#8211; performance carries more<\/td>\n<td>Higher &#8211; MMR-anchored result decides landing<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Performance weight (KDA, CS, win contribution)<\/td>\n<td>Higher<\/td>\n<td>Lower &#8211; mostly cosmetic in placement decisions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Maximum placement rank<\/td>\n<td>Capped at Gold or Platinum on most regions<\/td>\n<td>Diamond III (placement ceiling)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Time to first ranked game<\/td>\n<td>Recommended: 5-10 normals first to settle MMR<\/td>\n<td>Queue placements right away<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>If you&#8217;re brand new, queue 5-10 normal games before starting placements. The system uses normal-game MMR as one of the inputs for your placement anchor, and a few clean normal wins are worth more than diving straight into placements blind. Play your main role, lock to two champions, run a few clean matchups. Then queue placements with a real baseline.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Pre-placement_prep_checklist\"><\/span>Pre-placement prep checklist<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The 30-minute version of &#8220;ready for placements.&#8221; Skip any of these and your run is starting in a hole.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Glance at the patch notes. 5 minutes on the current patch notes. Know which of your champions got buffed or nerfed. Don&#8217;t first-time a champion that just lost half its kit.<\/li>\n<li>Update your runes. The system caches old rune pages between seasons. Update yours to match the current meta before queueing.<\/li>\n<li>Lock your shop loadout for your 2 placement champions. Build paths, summoner spells, ban list &#8211; all pre-set. The placement game isn&#8217;t where you want to be browsing the item shop.<\/li>\n<li>Pick a ban target. Ban the strongest champion your role hates lane against. Same ban across all 5 placements. Don&#8217;t experiment.<\/li>\n<li>Set a stop-loss. 3 placement losses in a row, you stop and come back the next day. Tilted placements compound. (Placements are when the system asks &#8216;are you sure you want to do this again?&#8217;)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The cleanest placement run we tracked last season took 4 hours of focused play: 5 games, 5 wins, both queues &#8211; landed at Diamond III on a previous-season Diamond II account, +80 LP starting bonus from the MMR carryover. Single role (jungle), single champion (Hecarim), one duo partner at higher MMR for two of the five games. That&#8217;s the template.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Frequently_asked_questions\"><\/span>Frequently asked questions<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_many_placement_matches_does_League_of_Legends_have\"><\/span>How many placement matches does League of Legends have?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>5 per queue. Solo\/Duo and Flex have separate placement runs of 5 games each. &#8220;10 placement matches&#8221; usually means running both queues &#8211; 5 in Solo\/Duo plus 5 in Flex &#8211; not 10 games inside one queue.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Can_you_lose_LP_during_placements\"><\/span>Can you lose LP during placements?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>No. The system does not apply LP losses during your 5-game placement run. You gain less LP on a loss than on a win, and the win-loss balance sets your starting MMR. You can&#8217;t drop tiers below your tier of origin during placements either.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_the_highest_rank_you_can_place_into\"><\/span>What is the highest rank you can place into?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Diamond III. The placement ceiling is fixed regardless of prior peak &#8211; a previous-season Challenger player going 5-0 still lands at Diamond III. The actual climb to Master and above happens after placements via regular ranked games.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Should_I_dodge_a_bad_placement_lobby\"><\/span>Should I dodge a bad placement lobby?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Yes, usually. Dodging during placements costs the queue cooldown (5 min first, 15 min second) but does not apply an LP penalty during your placement run. Autofill to a role you don&#8217;t main, champ select going off the rails, or a clearly tilted lobby are all situations where the 5-minute cooldown is cheaper than the likely loss.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Should_I_play_placements_right_away_or_wait\"><\/span>Should I play placements right away or wait?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Right away. The MMR partial reset happens the moment the new season starts; waiting doesn&#8217;t help your placements, it just delays where you land. Week 1 lobbies are also softer because most of the high-MMR grinders haven&#8217;t finished their placements yet.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Can_I_duo_for_placements\"><\/span>Can I duo for placements?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Yes, but pick the duo carefully. A duo at or above your MMR helps both placements. A duo significantly below your MMR drags the system&#8217;s placement decision downward and lowers your starting rank. Solo placements are the cleanest baseline; duo only with someone at or above your level.<\/p>\n<p>If the season is short on patience and you&#8217;d rather start at the ceiling, our team can <a href=\"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/en\/league-of-legends-boost\">let our team run placements for you<\/a> with a fixed 5-0 outcome inside the Diamond III placement cap. For the official current rules, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leagueoflegends.com\/en-us\/news\/dev\/dev-ranked-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Riot&#8217;s Ranked 2026 dev post<\/a> is the canonical source; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.op.gg\/lol\/statistics\/tiers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">op.gg&#8217;s tier statistics<\/a> shows the live rank distribution as players finish placements through the first month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LoL placement matches strategy: queue order, champion picks, when to dodge, and what win-loss record actually buys you a Diamond III start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1461,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[58,53,44],"class_list":["post-1114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-league-of-legends","tag-climbing-guide","tag-ranks-explained","tag-solo-queue"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1114"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1590,"href":"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114\/revisions\/1590"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boostingmarket.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}